1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to apparatus for the illumination of endoscopic and borescopic fields, in minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures, general or diagnostic medical or industrial procedures using stereo endoscopes or borescopes, respectively. More particularly, embodiments of the disclosure relate to use of a Light Emitting Photodiode and other solid state light sources in endoscopic and borescopic procedures, as a means of illumination for a single channel and single sensor method of stereoscopic imaging.
2. The Relevant Technology
Endoscopy is used in both diagnostic and surgical procedures. Currently, MIS procedures, as opposed to open surgical procedures, are routinely done in almost all hospitals. Minimally invasive surgical techniques minimize trauma to the patient by eliminating the need to make large incisions. This both reduces the risk of infection and reduces the patient's hospital stay. Laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures in MIS use different types of endoscopes as imaging means, giving the surgeon an inside-the-body view of the surgical site. Specialized endoscopes are named depending on where they are intended to look. Examples include: cystoscope (bladder), nephroscope (kidney), bronchoscope (bronchi), laryngoscope (larynx/the voice box), otoscope (ear), arthroscope (joint), laparoscope (abdomen), gastrointestinal endoscopes, and specialized stereo endoscopes used as laparoscopes or for endoscopic cardiac surgery.
The endoscope may be inserted through a tiny surgical incision to view joints or organs in the chest or abdominal cavity. More often, the endoscope is inserted into a natural body orifice such as the nose, mouth, anus, bladder, or vagina. There are three basic types of endoscopes: rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible. The rigid endoscope comes in a variety of diameters and lengths depending on the requirements of the procedure. Typical endoscopic procedures require a large amount of equipment. The main equipment used in conjunction to the visual part of the endoscopic surgery are the endoscope body, fiber optics illumination bundles, illumination light source, light source controller, imaging camera, camera control module, and video display unit.
Endoscopes can have a variety of forms, ranging in diameter, tube length, and angle of view. Endoscopes can be diagnostic, for observation only, or operative, having channels for irrigation, suction, and the insertion of accessory instruments when a surgical procedure is planned. Thus, endoscope bodies also could provide mechanical or electrical control sections, buttons for valves such as a suction valve, a CO2 valve, a water bottle connector, a water feed, a suction port, etc. The common component that all endoscopes must be equipped with is a light guide section for illumination.
Endoscopes commonly use optical fibers to illuminate the surgical site. Illumination is a very important part of laparoscopy because there is no light source inside the body. Fiber optic cold light is used to project light down the laparoscope from an external source. Large lamps with broadband output are used to couple light into the illumination light guides, where light guides transfer the illumination light from the light source to the illumination fiber bundle inside the endoscope body. One or more light guide bundles are used to couple light into the endoscope illumination fiber bundles.
The use of fiber bundles inside the endoscope body or tube occupies space that otherwise could have been used by the imaging optics, or used to reduce the diameter of the endoscope. In particular, the fiber optic illuminators share the endoscope body with the imaging optics. Limitations on the optical lens terrain diameter, as well as the imaging fiber bundle thickness, correlate directly to the imaging resolution vs. size of the image. The larger the lens diameter or imaging bundle thickness, the better the resolution of the endoscope for a certain field of view (FOV) or image size. This is the main reason that larger diameter scopes are considered better in optical quality than narrower scopes. However, large scope diameters are not desirable for certain operations where space is limited on the operation site.
The illumination fiber port(s) of an endoscope commonly join the endoscope body at some angle near the eyepiece at the proximal side of the endoscope. The fiber guide body and the main endoscope body are commonly joined together in a welding process at joint. The construction and design of this welded joint is often a weakness in the endoscope manufacturing and use, where after many operations, high temperature and high humidity sterilizations, and successive handling, this welded joint could get damaged and break, exposing the internal parts of the endoscope to the environment when the seal is broken.
Accordingly, a number of weaknesses and disadvantages exist with respect to conventional endoscopes and corresponding methods and systems.